I love having fresh flowers in the house and sometimes I luck out at the grocery store when they have pretty ones, but it’s really hit or miss. And I’ve not been all that impressed in the past with options for delivery when I want to send flowers. I mean, can’t a girl just send a big bunch of garden roses? Not long-stemmed roses — I’m not into those. I’m talking big, fluffy pink roses with lots and lots of petals. You know, like these!
Yep, those are my kind of roses.
The Bouqs Company is sponsoring today’s post, so before sharing them (and a discount offer) with you today, I ordered a couple of Bouqs to try them out for myself. The flowers above are their “Precious” pink garden roses.
Do you know about The Bouqs Company yet? I’ve heard stories, with other flower delivery services, of people getting substitutions in their order or that everything was already wilting. Ordering from Bouqs.com means you get flowers that are cut the day you order and shipped for free the next day right from the farms, so those flowers arrive fresh and stay looking good for longer. What you see is what you get and there are no random add-ons (cheap candy, ugly vases, teddy bears… you know). And their farms are sustainable, eco-friendly, and on the side of an active volcano. Yep.
(Their video explaining it all is actually pretty funny. Science project volcanoes for the win!)
The other Bouq I ordered was a mixed arrangement: “Porcupine” pincushion protea.
Pow! Protea is another one of those flowers that can be hard to find. There’s a florist around here that sometimes sells it for like $12 a stem, so getting a huge bunch of these delivered at a good price was awesome. They have flat, affordable pricing on all of their Bouqs — you just pick the size you want. No hidden costs, no delivery charges or fees. These were some of my favorites…
• 1. Marshmallow • 2. The Flamingo • 3. Infinity • 4. Energetic • 5. Ballerina • 6. Porcupine • 7. Whimsy • 8. Showstopper • 9. Adelaide • 10. Tiger • 11. Precious • 12. Abracadabra
My mother-in-law’s birthday is in April, Mother’s Day is in May, and then my mom’s birthday is in June, so every year, it’s like a little triathlon of monthly gift-giving for moms in the Balch household. I’m glad Bouqs.com has so many styles that I’d feel really good about sending because any of them would be a perfect gift for Mother’s Day! If you want to send flowers from The Bouqs Company, you can enter the code MDAY20 to receive 20% off your order. The code is good for one week, but you can place an order now and choose your delivery date.
You can even send some to yourself if you’re so inclined. Just saying.
Cynthia
April 26, 2016 at 10:31 amPosts like these are really helpful. Not only did I learn something today but I just bookmarked my go-to flower place. I had written off mail-order flowers long ago b/c of the inconsistency and tackiness. Looks like we have a modern-day flower company that really delivers. Thanks, Nicole!
Making it Lovely
April 26, 2016 at 10:41 amSo glad to hear that!
Kelly
April 26, 2016 at 1:30 pmMy husband ordered flowers from Bouqs Company two months ago. On the day the flowers were supposed to arrive, nothing showed. When he emailed them in the evening, requesting a status update they said they couldn’t fulfill the order and just cancelled. No explanation. No additional follow-up. We got a full refund but had an awful experience. Other friends of ours also had similar experiences.
I love your blog but do not have anything nice to say about the Bouqs Company.
Making it Lovely
April 26, 2016 at 1:32 pmOh no! So sorry that happened. I’d heard of things like that with other places (and there was a big article about flower delivery places in the latest issue of Consumer Reports investigating it all), but sad to hear that you experienced trouble too.
Emily
April 26, 2016 at 4:43 pmHi, Nicole. Here’s some feedback on your content, for what it’s worth. For all I know, you’re drowning in readership these days. If so, disregard. But I’m a former regular reader because–to my reading–your blog went from “transforming the so-so” to paid advertisements.
There are two comments before mine: one that hasn’t ordered from your sponsorship and is now referring to it as the “go-to flower place” with nothing but your advertised claim (Bouqs must be thrilled). Big surprise that the company made sure you’d have a picture-perfect story to share. That’s how advertising works. The other commenter has practical experience and it’s not good.
But transforming the so-so? That’s a little less predictable, it takes guts, and it’s what I used to love about your blog. Advertisements are absolutely everywhere, and now your blog is just one more place where they reign and honest content is lacking.
I’m just one person, but I’m a former loyal reader who pokes her head back in every now and again to see if the first thing I see is a paid advertisement. It seems that it always is, and I’m done scrolling, searching for un-sponsored content.
Please note that this is simply feedback. It’s not good, but it’s honest and meant as constructive criticism. As they say, there’s no accounting for taste, so I’m well aware that I may be alone in this.
I’ll still poke my head in here and there. I thought your first house was killa, so I’m hoping lightning strikes twice. Not in this house, it seems, but you never know.
All the best.
Kate
April 30, 2016 at 11:58 pmEmily, you said it better than I could, but I feel exactly the same way. Every once in a while I poke back and am consistently disappointed with all the sponsored posts. The budget seems a bit much too, I understand house renovations are always expensive and people have different budgets, blah blah blah. But the previous house had a much more affordable, attainable feel. I mean, as someone with one small child, I’m sometimes shocked at the prices listed on the blog, like $50 carnations? And Nicole has two more small children than I do!
Simone
May 3, 2016 at 3:10 amEmily, Sadly I agree fully. I used to love the projects and realistic styling tips. Now I feel like the blog is sponsor after sponsored post. I fully understand that advertsing is how you can make a living off your blog but it feels like every sponsored post that knocks on your door is approved and has taken away from why I loved the blog.
Emma
May 4, 2016 at 7:26 amHi Emily, I think many readers share your sentiment. It would explain the extraordinary decline in comments on this blog: it feels like a thinly veiled infomercial most of the time. It boggles my mind how one of the leading DIY blogs could get to this point, and it makes me miss the days when Nicole painted her porch – now THAT was transforming a very so-so so-so!
SF
April 26, 2016 at 5:55 pmI also experienced terrible customer service from them. I love their vibe and thought their photos were beautiful, but would never go back based on the experience. I hope they get it together, but they’ll be doing it without me!
Rachel
April 26, 2016 at 5:57 pmI am another user of the Bouqs company that had a bad experience. I ordered from them for my wedding flowers last month. To be fair, part of the issue was due to bad weather and FedEx cancelling some of their routes. But The Bouqs was absolutely HORRIBLE to deal with from a customer service perspective. My order was supposed to arrive on Thursday. Some of the bouquets I ordered shipped on Tuesday (not next day shipping) and others only first shipped extremely late on Wednesday night. I called on Wednesday evening to get a status since I hadn’t gotten shipping confirmation on over half of them and they ensured me that I would get them on time. The bouquets shipped shortly after my phone conversation. Only one bouquet arrived on Thursday. I called them again on Thursday and the representative was extremely unhelpful. I asked to speak to a manager and he said no managers were available. I asked him to call FedEx and find out what the status of the orders was. He told me that online there was no indication of status. I reiterated that I wanted him to call the company and speak to someone. He put me on hold for 5 minutes and told me “yeah, you should get your flowers tomorrow”. Should. Not will. I asked if he could clarify if “should” actually meant he received confirmation from FedEx and he gave a bored, noncommittal response. It was horrible. My flowers did finally arrive after 6pm on Friday. Since a number of them had been in boxes for over 2 days, there were many that were wilted and unusable. Luckily I over-ordered and was able to supplement with blooms from the grocery store. But it was an extremely frustrating experience and I would not use them again.
infinitequery
April 26, 2016 at 8:58 pmI never agree with those who don’t feel ads are appropriate when they are receiving hopefully useful information and a talented writer. I still follow you but I don’t have the same experience that I did with your first home. The items you present may be easily in your budget(and of course they are since they are what you are buying)but they are so far out of mine that I am actually shocked at what ordinary things can cost. I enjoy going to the little “antique” stores -read junque stores-in my neighborhood and finding the treasures among the weird cast offs. I get more of a kick out of scoring a great buy and as I said I definitely don’t have your present budget. I think your blog is great but I remember when you showed us your real talents at drawing and painting and making- not so much- look terrific. Now your house reads as a Mansion-stunning and beautiful but somehow remote from my life. I’m thrilled you have a lovely home and you are such a great family but you kinda took the elevator up from my floor. More the Penthouse than mine so its hard to still connect with your message.
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas – Making it Lovely
April 28, 2016 at 10:51 am[…] My other favorite recent finds were the blue and white vases you saw in Tuesday’s flower post. I was able to find the temple jar online, which along with the ginger jar, was part of a larger […]
Beth R.
April 28, 2016 at 1:25 pmWhere is your black lamp from in the first photo? It’s gorgeous (the flowers are too)!
Making it Lovely
April 28, 2016 at 1:31 pmThanks! It’s actually dark brown, but it comes in a whole bunch of colors. I bought it probably a decade ago and it used to be called the “Jayne” lamp by Robert Abbey. It looks like it now goes by “Jasmine?” They look identical to me, but give either name a quick search and you’ll find it easily from your choice of sellers.
Elizabeth Hoppe
April 28, 2016 at 8:26 pmHi, I love your blog. And I really love learning about new companies or products to try. I know people think they are being helpful with their input, but I wish comments stayed a bit more positive. I have tried bouqs several times, with varying degrees of success. Not always great, but fun to try. Farmgirlflowers.com has been consistently great though! I hope you keep vetting products, even when approached by the vendor themselves. I can do my own homework to see if I like it. I apprecieate your taste and love your old and new house! Please keep doing what you are doing!
Megan
April 29, 2016 at 10:57 amI would hope Nicole appreciates well-meaning constructive criticism that’s presented in a polite manner, such as that from the ladies in this post. Having multiple people describe their negative experiences gives a more complete picture of this company’s services. Obviously Nicole had a good experience (and I would hope so since the company is sponsoring this post), but it doesn’t seem like anyone else on here did, so only having positive comments wouldn’t accurately reflect many consumers’ experiences. When I’m looking at reviews for a product, I read both the positive and negative reviews to figure out which is more important to me. Furthermore, maybe it will make Nicole reconsider the types of brands she decides to align herself with if reader after reader complains about that brand’s products and/or services. Mean and nasty comments aren’t helpful, and they devalue the writer’s point, but helpful, constructive comments should always be welcome by those who are hoping to improve – especially a business, which, let’s face it, a monetized blog is.
Laura
April 28, 2016 at 9:32 pmThese look pretty and I decided to splurge on this and give it a try, with the 20% off code as a big motivation. I got excited and picked out some peonies.
But when I went to check out, it tells me I can’t use the promo code you list. It gives me this message:
“An error occurred. You cannot use this voucher anymore (usage limit attained).”
Which is a major bummer. The discount was what convinced me to spend more than I really should in the first place, so I’m not going to bother to place the order. It would be nice if there is a promo on a sponsored post for the codes to actually work!
Elizabeth Hoppe
April 29, 2016 at 9:34 pmMegan, I wish I hadn’t replied at all! I did not mean to diminish anyones’ opinion on their experience with the company Bouqs, or this blog. If they did not have a great experience, of course they should be able to express it. I am no good at commenting on things, I just wanted to say I have long loved the blog, and had a few good experiences, but not altogether great ones, with bouqs. Should have kept it at that. I just really like when we can share good things, I meant no offense, to anyone.